Sporting Digest: Badminton

STEVE BUTLER decided only two hours before the start that he was fit to play, and then reached the third round of the world championships in Birmingham yesterday. Butler suffers persistent back trouble but wanted to compete in this event before his career comes to an end.

7-UP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS (Birmingham, selected) Men's singles, second round: Ong Ewe Hock (Malay) bt P Bush (Eng) 12-15 15-5 15-8; Kim Hak-kyun (S Kor) bt Xie Yangchun (Ch) 15-10 15-12; H Sperre (Norway) bt C Roberston (Sco) 15-4 15-6; B Blanshard (Can) bt S Yates (Wal) 15-6 15-4; H Susanto (Indon) bt J Hankiewicz (Pol) 15-6 15- 6; D Hall (Eng) bt S P Horacio (Mex) 15-1 15-1; A T Hallgrimsson (Icel) bt Igor Novak (Slovak) 15-9 15-5; Ali Yar Beg (Pakistan) bt D Gilmour (Sco) 15-5 15-3; Liu Jun (Ch) bt V Druzhchenko (Ukr) 15-7 15-6; A B Kusuma (Indon) bt P McAdam (US) 15-0 15-3; S Butler (Eng) bt J van Dijk (Neth) 15-5 15-5; Foo Kok Keong (Malay) bt S Sylvester (Gren) 15-1 15-6; A Nielsen (Eng) bt B Kristjansson (Icel) 15-10 15-7; F Permadi (Indon) bt Chong Weng Kai (US) 15-1 15-4; Park Sung-woo (S Kor) bt B Flockhart (Sco) 15-4 15-7; A Wiranata (Indon) bt S Narasimhan (Ken) 15-2 15-1; P Smith (Eng) bt H Nassimi (Iran) 15-1 15-2; P Knowles (Eng) bt J Brestovsky (Slov) 15-0 15-1; P-E Hoyer- Larssen (Den) bt Ali Reza Shafiec (Iran) 15-1 15-1; J Mailer (Sco) bt M Shakouri (Iran) 15-3 15-3; Lee Kwang-jin (S Kor) bt Kasemak Chatujinda (Thai) 15-11 15-4; J Suprianto (Indon) bt G Lewis (Wal) 15-6 15-2.

Women's singles, second round: S Susanti (Indon) bt M Hoogland (Neth) 11-4 11-2; S McGinn (Irl) bt A Andersson (US) 12-10 11-3; Hu Ning (Ch) bt D Koleva (Bul) 11-6 11-2; S Louis-Lane (Eng) bt Tan Lee Wai (Malay) 11-4 11-2; Lee Heung-soon (S Kor) bt I Yakusheva (Rus) 11-1 11-4; Y Kartika (Indon) bt K Morgan (Wal) 11-0 11-1; Ye Zhaoying (Ch) bt B Villars (Swit) 11-3 11-3; J Muggeridge (Eng) bt G Davies (Wal) 11-2 11-0; L Aronsohn (US) bt M Slatnar (Slov) 11-6 12-10; Y Santoso (Indon) bt L Olavesen (Nor) 11-1 11-2; T Groves (Eng) bt K Howell (Wal) 11-3 11-7; Somharuehai Jaroensiri (Thai) bt N Keith (Ind) 11-7 11-4; H Mizui (Japan) bt G Martin (Sco) 11-3 11-4; S Kusumawardhani (Indon) bt A Gibson (Sco) 11-3 11-8; P N Jessen (Den) bt N Melnikova (Ukr) 11-2 11-0; Tang Jiuhong (Ch) bt C Thorn (Can) 11-1 11-1; Liu Yuhong (Ch) bt D Dimitrova (Bul) 11-2 11-5; S Hore (Eng) bt E von Heiland (US) 11-3 12-9; M Timur (Indon) bt C Skropke (Ger) 11-5 11-4; C Magnusson (Sweden) bt D Julien (Can) 11-3 12-11; A Humby (Eng) bt M Pawangadkar (Ind) 8-11 11-4 11-5; Pornsawan Plungvech (Thailand) bt Sissel Linderoth (Norway) 11-2 11-6; Bang Soo-hyun (S Kor) bt J Lacinova (Cz Rep) 11-3 11-0.